Frederick w



OGTAVB GOUPLBR FOR FOLDING KEYBOARDS FOR ORGANS.

No. 469,699. Patented Mar. 1, 1892.

(No Model.) 9

F. W; HEDGELAND.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK IV. IIEDGELAND, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE IV. \V.KIMBALL COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

OCTAVE-COUPLER FOR FOLDING KEYBOARDS FOR ORGANS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 469,699, dated March 1,1892.

Application filed November 23, 1891. Serial No. 412,741. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK W. HEDGE- LAND, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oetave-Couplersfor Folding Keyboards for Organs, of which the following is aspecification.

I have heretofore devised a keyboard for I.) organs adapted to fold upand into the case of the instrument; and my present invention relates tothe con1bination,with such akeyboard, of an octave-coupler adapted totold with the keyboard and which requires no disconnecting preparatoryto the folding of the board.

I have illustrated my present invention in the accompanying drawings,wherein- Figure l is a vertical section of that portion of the organ towhich my invention relates, showing the keyboard and coupler lowered foruse, and Fig. 2 a like section, show ing the parts folded up.

In the drawings, A represents one of the keys, B the front, and O thebottom, of the 2 5 keyboard, which is hinged to the case of theinstrument at 0. Above the keys is the stopboard D, in which are thedraw-stops D, (only one being shown,) provided with pulls or knobs d.

av is the key-rail, and a the support for the rear end of the keys, andZ) the rail limiting the dip of the keys. All these parts fold up andopen simultaneously, though the stopboard turns upon a center in linewith the 5 pivot of the joint d in the stop D.

The dotted lines, Fig. 1, show the relative movements of the key andstop boards.

E is a section of the case-front hinged at e and adapted to swing up andinward and 40 make room for the stop-board, as shown at Fig. 2.

F is a guard applied to the stop-board for operating the section E andpreventing interference between it and the stops.

M is the locking-board engaging with the front of the stop-board.

The parts above described I do not claim in this application, as thepresent invention relates to the coupler which will now be described.

G is the usual board supporting the series of octave-couplers II, onlyone of the latter being illustrated. Said board swrngsfreely upon aleather hinge '1', connecting it with the supportinga'ail I, and israised and lowered to throw the couplers into or out of operativeposition by a rocking lever having bent-up arms J, this being the usualconstruction. One end of each of the couplers II pro ects over andoperates a lever K, supported by and pivoted upon a rail L, extendingfrom end to end of the manual, so as to support the entire series oflevers K, there being one of these levers for each coupler. The fartherend of each lever K extends under and operates a sticker N, each ofwhich passes through and is supported in an opening in the rear end ofone of the keys A, and under the horizontal arm of the elbow-lever O,which operates the tracker o of the same key. The rear ends of theseries of levers K are sustained upon a piece of webbing I, stretchedacross the manual under the series of levers. Iuse webbing for thispurpose, as it 1s entirely noiseless, and is cheap and easily appliedand takes up less room than awood rail. The couplers are actuated by thedepending buffers 7L, attached to the keys.

This being the construction, the coupling devices operate as follows:Then the octave of the key shown is struck, the coupler II is actuated,and through it a movement is given to the lever K, lifting the sticker Nand sounding the note represented by the key shown. This is done withoutany movement being imparted to the key itself. At the same time, whenthe key shown is struck, the only part of the devices connecting thecoupler with the elbow-lever O which is moved is the sticker N .fQWhenthe keyboard is folded, the key and sticker move away from theelbow-lever, aslthey are unattached to said 1ever, and they at onceresume operative position therewith when the keyboard is again lowered.No disconnecting of the key or coupler from the action is requiredprevious to folding the keyboard, nor is any attachment necessary uponunfolding it.

I claim- 1. The combination, with the keys of a folding keyboard, theoctave-couplers, and the action operated by the keys and couplers, of

levers K and stickers N, substantially as set forth. I

2. The combination, with the keys of a folding keyboard, ofoctave-couplers H, pivoted levers K, operated by the couplers, stickersN, operated by said levers, and the action actuated by said keys andstickers, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination, with the keys of a folding keyboard, of stickers N,loosely supported in the rear end of the keys, octave-couplers forsounding" the action of the several keys, and means for carrying motionfrom said couplers to said stickers, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with the keys of a folding keyboard, of theoctave-couplers, and connections carrying motion from the couplers tothe actions of the several keys, said connections being unattached tothe actions, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of the keys having no attachment to the action, andoctave-couplers with connections for carrying motion from the couplersto the action, but unattached to the latter, and a folding keyboardcarrying said keys, couplers, and connections, substantially as setforth.

6. The combination, with the levers K, of the webbing B, substantiallyas set forth.

7. The combination, with the keys A and their several actions, of theseries of couplers H, the series of pivoted levers K, the series ofstickers N, and a support, such as P, for said levers K, substantiallyas set forth.

8. The combination of the folding keyboard and the keys and couplerssupported therein, and the motion-receiving part of the several actionslocated in position to be operated by either the keys or the couplers,but unattached to either of them, substantially as set forth.

FREDERICK W. HEDGELAND.

\Vitnesses:

H. M. MUNDAY, EMMA HACK.

